Mary Calderon

Labor I Postpartum / Infant Care Specialist

Mary began her birthwork career as a postpartum doula in 2015, after training through Doulas of North America (DONA). She has been supporting diverse family structures since the very beginning, when she started pursuing her undergraduate degree at the University of Michigan.

After working as a professional nanny for 13 years, it was a very natural evolution for Mary to pivot to birth work when she saw that there was a need for parents to have caring, informed, non-judgmental support during pregnancy, labor, and especially within the first hours of bringing their new babies home.

Mary enjoys building and fostering a sense of community with families. She believes it takes a village to not only raise a child, but also to raise parents. With that in mind, she facilitates our weekly, virtual community-group for our families so that they have a place to safely share triumphs and trials, as they navigate life while pregnant and parenting.

Mary is deeply honored every time she is able to support a family through their birth and postpartum experience. She enjoys staying current with evidence-based birthing guidelines and the latest parenting approaches, as well as advances in research and technology so that she can provide families with a unique and better understanding of infant and toddler development. Her additional experience in Family Centered Coaching and as a breast/chestfeeding counselor ensures that she can support families in all capacities as they flourish in their roles as parents.

Mary lives in Gage Park with her spouse and cat. In her spare time she enjoys being active outside, exploring the city, volunteering, and reclaiming her ancestral customs and traditions. She also loves spending weekends in rural west Michigan, visiting and making memories with her grandparents.

Sarah Palmer

Labor

Sarah was thrown into birth work in 2015 when her best friend went into preterm labor while her partner was out of town. Sarah sprung into action, supported her friend, and discovered that birth work is where she belongs! She subsequently trained with Prodoula and DONA International and is now honored to join families in this life changing process and support them within a health system that can be hard to navigate. 

Sarah's compassion, calm presence, and flexibility add to her skills as a doula. Originally trained as an artist, Sarah's creativity and observation skills help her attune to her clients' needs. She works to be a facilitator between her clients and their care providers, making sure all of their questions are answered. Sarah is passionate about meeting clients where they are at, and empowering them to make informed decisions that work best for them. She will help you achieve your goals on your parenting journey and guide you through the surprises along the way.

Outside of birth work, Sarah loves yoga, ceramics, and hearing great live music in Chicago. 

Jackie Escobar

Postpartum | Infant Care Specialist

The desire to provide non-judgmental, full-spectrum support for families is what led Jackie to pursue her career as a doula. She completed the ProDoula Postpartum Training in 2016 and joined Chicagoland Doulas a few months later.

The saying “It takes a village” has always meant much to Jackie but in 2009 when she began work as a full-time nanny that saying became a personal motto. In her time as a nanny, Jackie felt like a team member working alongside parents as they care for their children. Always eager to provide the very best care, she regularly attends child development workshops, seminars, and conferences. With professional development and her nanny experience, Jackie has become very knowledgeable in all aspects of infant care. She excels at anticipating the needs of growing families.

Jackie currently lives the Mayfair area but has lived throughout the city. In her spare time, Jackie enjoys knitting, playing board games with friends, and tasting craft beers at local breweries. She also loves visiting art galleries and acquiring new pieces for her collection. Jackie can’t wait to support new and growing families with her experience, companionship, and solidarity as a Chicagoland Doula.

Shira Segev-Sommer

Labor | Postpartum | Infant Care Specialist

Shira began working with young children and families at an early age while growing up in a small community in Israel. After pursuing education in the field of Nutrition and Natural Medicine in Israel, she found her calling as an educator both as a philosopher and a preschool teacher. She has supported and guided parents and families for more than 15 years.

The birth of Shira’s daughter 8 years ago was her first introduction to doulas and was a natural and essential experience for her. It was such a profound moment in her life that it became the inspiration to follow her life’s dream to support families and newborns. She moved to the US with her husband and daughter 5 years ago and is currently living in the Chicago’s Uptown neighborhood.

Shira has a calm and compassionate nature, and is also an energetic cook. She loves to sing and seeks new volunteer opportunities regularly.

Shira is honored to be serving families in the Chicagoland area and helping them on their journey in conscious parenting. When she is not nurturing new parents, she can be found gardening, cycling, camping, and volunteering with her husband at Chicago’s nonprofit School of Philosophy for Living.

Sydney Gelb

Postpartum

Sydney has been working with young children for most of her life and has recently added postpartum doula support to her broad repertoire. Prior to training with DONA International and working with Chicagoland Doulas, she worked as a nanny and as an infant teacher at a child development center and earned a bachelor’s degree in Child Development and Education. As an infant teacher, Sydney supervised a class of up to 8 infants and took care of their basic needs while teaching them sign language, practicing baby yoga, and creating a developmentally appropriate curriculum to help them meet their milestones. As a nanny, she had all the responsibilities of her teaching days and more. Raising children involves many moving parts and constantly changing dynamics, and she revels in adapting to each day.  

Sydney’s favorite part of doula work is seeing how well parents bond with their little ones when they are being supported themselves. She is a night owl and specializes in overnight care as well as daytime support. Families have described her as thoughtful, kind, knowledgeable, organized,  and with a heart of gold.

Sydney likes spending time with family and friends, volunteering, going to concerts, and exploring the city. Now that she is vaccinated, she is looking forward to returning to these activities as well as helping new families.

Leah Whiteman

Labor | Postpartum

Leah Whiteman is a trained labor and postpartum doula with a focus on postpartum nutrition, perinatal mood disorders, and chest/breast and bottle feeding support.

Ever since Leah was a kid she has always found herself chasing babies! With a background in arts education, hospitality, and childcare Leah strives to care for the family as a whole.  Leah loves to cook for her clients, and being gluten and dairy free herself has resulted in having a number of recipes up her sleeve. 

Leah believes that being a doula isn’t only about nurturing the birthing person, but enlisting the family in supporting each other. There is a lot of pressure and information on how to care for a newborn, let alone parenting in general.  Leah provides unbiased, evidence based support and guidance for her clients.

When she takes her doula hat off, Leah loves to  go on long walks down the lake shore and cook up a storm.